CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Airman - Bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 28 months, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and reduction to E-1.
Airman 1st Class - Bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 6 months and reduction to E-1.
Master Sergeant - Bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 24 months and reduction to E-1.
Despite these real world consequences for government computer misuse, the viewing, searching and transferring of pornographic files is still occurring frequently. Since December, the network control center, legal office and Air Force Office of Special Investigations have all noted an increase of network abuse through pornography. One hundred percent of what people do is monitored and the consequences, when caught misusing computers, can be steep.
"By accessing pornography on government computers, not only are people demonstrating noncompliance with Air Force instructions, they are putting themselves in a position to possibly offend others and bring discredit upon themselves and the armed forces, in violation of Articles 92 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice," said Capt. David Dickinson, chief of adverse actions in the legal office.
Take the case of this active-duty Airman stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany in 2000. There were four computers in his workstation that several people shared. On several occasions, he used one of these government computers to search, download, store and display pornography through the Internet. One of his coworkers, using the same workstation, accidentally came across links to pornographic web sites. After turning him in and conducting an investigation, roughly 10,000 images and several stories involving sex with children were found on the computer and traced back to the Airman. Concluding the trial, he was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for two-and-a-half years, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a reduction to Airman basic.
"Every single proxy log from every single computer on Charleston AFB is reviewed at Air Mobility Command's headquarters," said Staff Sgt. Todd O'Quinn, boundary protection specialist for the NCC. "This means every click online is recorded and checked."
If AMC suspects that one of the network computers was misused or abused, they'll solicit the help of the NCC here to gather more information.
"Our NCC's purpose is to protect the health and welfare of the network so we can continue to have the privilege of the internet here at Charleston," said Staff Sgt. Jessica Williams, vulnerability assessment specialist for the NCC.
Once a specific workstation in question is located, the NCC uses a First Response Intrusion disc to capture everything that has passed through the computer's system, including any attempts to bypass the network. Once this disc is passed back up to AMC, pending on the severity of the case and whether child pornography is involved, the 437th Security Forces Office of Investigations or the AFOSI takes over to gather the facts and conduct an investigation.
However, AMC tracking isn't the only way allegations of pornography are exposed. Whether it's a client systems administrator or a coworker, anyone can call attention to government computer misuse if they suspect pornography being accessed.
"For those who share a computer with several people in a unit, remember that anything you do affects all users on that specific workstation," said Sergeant Williams. "If someone logs on and notices a lot of pornographic pop-ups, it is reasonable to suspect someone else has used the computer to access pornography."
Often, CSAs inadvertently come across evidence of pornography access or other misuse while working on a user's work station and again, is turned over to SFOI or AFOSI to investigate. Typically, AFOSI only investigates allegations involving child pornography.
An investigation begins by seizing the computer and interviewing all involved parties including users that have accessed the computer and those who discovered the explicit images, said Special Agent Conners.
The computer is then sent to the Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory to determine who specifically accessed the computer based on methods such as pinpointing login IDs/passwords and Common Access Card login. The DCFL completes an extensive analysis to include how the pornography was accessed and the number of images viewed. Depending on the case, AFOSI may incorporate further interviews, searches and operation activity summaries to wrap up the overall investigation.
Once completed, the Report of Investigation is provided to the action authority, legal office, etc. to determine the consequences including judicial or non-judicial punishments. The legal office acts as an advisor to the commander in association with the user being investigated for pornography use. The legal office in conjunction with AFOSI, briefs the commander on the investigation, those involved and if need be, advice on the appropriate actions to be taken.
"Frequently, articles 15 are given for accessing porn," said Captain Dickinson. "But the consequences, depending on severity (child pornography for example), could be anything from a letter of counseling to a court-martial. The sentence imposed at a court-martial could include a punitive discharge, confinement and reduction in rank."
The words 'this device is subject to monitoring at ALL TIMES - use of this device constitutes consent to monitoring' are posted on each computer and reinforced by an electronic pop-up every time someone initially logs onto a computer. This notice should not be disregarded.
"One might believe that what they do on their work computer will go unnoticed," said Special Agent Conners. "However, when it comes to misusing government computers, we here at AFOSI recommend - just don't do it. As Airmen, our actions must always reflect the highest standards America expects from its men and women in uniform."